Each week, Sporting News runs down the biggest stories in the world of professional wrestling.

Impact Wrestling troubles

It was all positive signs for Impact Wrestling earlier this year when Anthem Sports and Entertainment bought the company and saved it from going out of business. Just eight months later, major struggles and behind-the-scenes drama that has plagued the company for years are still apparent.

On Tuesday, the company — rebranded as Global Force Wrestling — announced that Chief Creative Officer Jeff Jarrett was taking an indefinite leave of absence to deal with personal issues.

Make no mistake about it: Jeff Jarrett is out of the company that he founded for the second time. It was a decision made by Anthem Executive Vice President Ed Nordholm and one that blindsided Jarrett who tweeted this earlier Tuesday morning.

Then on Wednesday, Justin Barrasso of SI.com reported that GFW is “hemorrhaging funds” and Anthem is ready to get out of the wrestling business and sell the brand. The most valuable part of GFW is its tape library that includes current WWE including such as Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Bobby Roode, and Kurt Angle.

WWE reportedly bid on the tape library last year but was turned down. It will likely make another attempt if it becomes available which would be a natural addition to the WWE Network. Another part of a potential sale to WWE would be the “Broken Universe”. Both Anthem and Matt and Jeff Hardy claim they own the rights to the intellectual property and that fight could make its way to court.

Another “only in wrestling” matter in all of this is Jarrett still owns the right to the GFW name and trademarks. Even though a merger was announced months ago and Impact Wrestling has been using the GFW name, the deal was never finalized.

Give Anthem credit for saving the company from going under and paying off the incredible amount of debt to various creditors that had built up under Dixie Carter’s leadership. Wrestlers and the production staff are now being paid on time, which was not previously the case.

But operating a profitable wrestling company, especially one on television, is a very unique and difficult business. Anthem has signed new TV deals around the world but none of them are lucrative enough to make a real difference. GFW did announce it has extended its TV deal with Pop TV to air in the U.S. through 2018 but it’s a deal that pays little to no right fees.

GFW is conducting business as usual, announcing plans to launch the “Global Wrestling Network” digital service with access to its video library and a new distribution deal with 7Sports to air its weekly “Impact” show in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

JBL leaves ‘SmackDown’ broadcast team

John Bradshaw Layfield announced last Friday that he was part ways with the role as an announcer on “SmackDown Live” immediately to focus more on his work with at risk kids for his charity in Bermuda where he resides.

He added that he will continue to have a relationship with WWE and appear on shows such as “WrestleMania” and its annual “Tribute to the Troops."

After much consideration, I will be stepping back my weekly role as Smackdown Announcer to dedicate more (cont) https://t.co/An7zuYRFmV

There were rumors that the 50-year-old was to blame for Mauro Ranallo’s vanishing act from the WWE earlier this year. The accusations were that JBL bullied Ranallo, who suffers from bipolar disorder, who then fell into a deep depression.

WWE bucked the public pressure and JBL remained in his position. Ranallo has since returned to the company as the lead announcer for NXT.

JBL’s departure opened a huge hole on the “SmackDown” announce team. WWE acted quickly, filling the position with Corey Graves who will continue in the same role on “Raw."

Graves was the correct choice. He is the best color commentator in the business with his passionate and quick-witted calls. With his increased workload, he will no longer announce “205 Live” or “Main Event” with NXT analyst Nigel McGuinness taking over those duties.

The 'Nature Boy' is back

Only Ric Flair can defy the odds to survive a major health scare and then cut a promo on death in true “Nature Boy” style.

WWE helping fight cancer

One of the best things that WWE does throughout the year is its incredible work in the community. The company is partnering again with The V Foundation through Connor’s Cure to raise funds for pediatric cancer research during Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month in September.

This year’s campaign features six pediatric cancer patients who have transformed into their own WWE Superstar characters. Each child designed their own ring gear, chose their entrance music and revealed their superstar personas at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

To help raise money for Connor’s Cure, WWE produced a limited-number collection of t-shirts, pins and original Connor’s Cure bracelets while are available on WWEShop.com with 100% of the net proceeds going to the V Foundation at helping benefit pediatric cancer research.

WWE superstars are also wearing special gold-colored apparel in the ring, which will be auctioned off at WWEAuction.com to benefit Connor’s Cure.

WWE has done an amazing job in helping children who are battling cancer through Connor’s Cure since it was founded by Stephanie McMahon and Paul Levesque in 2014. You can see in the heartwarming video the impact that the WWE and its superstars have on these kids, helping lift their spirits when it’s needed the most.

News and notes

— Congratulations to Ricochet who became the first two-time winner of the prestigious PWG “Battle Of Los Angeles” tournament. The three shows were again stacked with the some of the biggest and best talents not in the WWE as they put on all-out, unbelievable matches for the most diehard fans that were lucky enough to score tickets.

The finals saw Ricochet again show off his incredible athleticism to beat big men Jeff Cobb and Keith Lee in the triple-threat finale. The question now is what’s next for the Lucha Underground star whose contract there expires before the end of the year. He will continue working indie shows and for New Japan Pro Wrestling for now but suitors are lining up and he’ll be able to go wherever he wants. That could very well be NXT or possibly straight to WWE come 2018.

— Everyone, please take notice of the greatness that is Kevin Owens. Not only has he become one of the best promos in the business, he is the most believable performer in the WWE with his amazing attention to detail in everything he does both in and out of the ring.

Owens once again showed that on this week’s “SmackDown” in his interaction with Shane McMahon, upsetting the GM so much that he was attacked and McMahon being suspended from his role.

Vince McMahon will make a rare appearance on Tuesday’s show and this is all likely setting up a “Hell in a Cell” match between Shane-o-Mac and Owens at the October pay-per-view of the same name.

Owens gets it when it comes to all aspects of being a pro wrestling and a sports entertainer and stands out among a very talented cast of WWE stars. He is the prefect case-study for anyone looking to make it in the business and for performers looking to improve.

— It looks like The Young Bucks are cutting back on some of their regular, fun-loving shenanigans. It’s not by choice either with Matt and Nick Jackson indicating on their “ Being the Elite ” YouTube series and on Twitter that they received a cease and desist letter from the WWE stating they could no longer use the “suck it” crotch chop. While it’s an homage to the DX from the Attitude Era, WWE says it’s still their intellectual property.

— Jerry Lawler recently claimed on his “ Dinner with the King ” podcast that he met a fan that has a tattoo of Vince McMahon on his backside. He wasn’t making it up either. For anyone interested in seeing the chairman’s face permanently inked on someone’s butt, feel free to check it out . Wrestling fans can be an interesting breed.